LAKELAND, Fla. - Jarred Cosart is just 22. He walked off the mound Monday afternoon with Astros manager Bo Porter reassuring the hard-throwing righthander he'll win many games in the major leagues during the coming years.

Cosart is one of the premier young arms in the Astros organization. His sinking fastball hit 100 mph several times last season with Class AA Corpus Christi. The Astros believe enough in Cosart that general manager Jeff Luhnow on Monday morning remained open to the idea Baseball America's No. 7 Astros prospect could wind up on the club's 25-man roster on opening day.

Reality check

But after Cosart watched from the dugout while a Prince Fielder-led Detroit Tigers lineup continued to pound out hits and runs Monday in an 8-5 win, then made his way toward the clubhouse, reality hit.

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Cosart knows what will define his early pro career. Speed versus control. Power versus precision. It's the battle he faced throughout 2012, throwing with stunning heat and earning a Class AAA promotion but walking 51 batters while striking out 92.

And when Cosart's mind sped up Monday and his delivery followed - unraveling with Astros executives and coaches observing every pitch - the 97 mph readings on Joker Marchant Stadium's scoreboard gun meant little.

The League City native had given up four hits, four walks and three earned runs in two-plus innings, chased from the game an inning before his first spring start was to end.

Cosart took the loss on a day he wanted to prove to management he belonged on the big league club. His first and possibly best opportunity to steal a rotation spot had been erased by the wildness that has sometimes shadowed his initial four years of pro ball.

"Everything was going too fast. I couldn't slow down," said Cosart, who had allowed one hit and no runs in his previous four innings of spring relief. "It's something to work on going forward. I've got to find some way to be able to slow myself down.

"Because no matter what I did (Monday), even when they came out to the mound … when I got going back into my mechanics, I was (going) too quick."

Eager to learn

For all of Cosart's wildness, he was calm and professional off the mound. The 38th-round selection in the 2008 amateur draft was dejected, but Cosart kept his fall in perspective, discussing everything from a two-strike pitch to Torii Hunter he'd throw again in a heartbeat to a Wednesday bullpen session that awaits.

"A lot of times, your adrenaline gets flowing and you want to just go harder and harder and harder," Porter said. "As he pitches more and more, that maturation's going to take place."

For an Astros organization searching for prospects with whom to build a foundation, Cosart is more aligned with first baseman Jonathan Singleton than raw talent such as infielders Carlos Correa or Rio Ruiz.

Cosart is likely to begin 2013 at Class AAA Oklahoma City, where the Astros hope he'll assume the role as the club's premier top-level minor league starter.

Depending on the state of the big league rotation and the club's record midway through the season, Cosart could receive a quicker-than-expected call-up or late-season promotion.

Castro sees potential

Catcher Jason Castro has worked with enough of the team's pitchers and caught enough young Astros arms to say Cosart's arsenal is among the best on the club. Monday's start was a clear setback. But it could also become one of the best things that has happened to Cosart's young career if the righty storms back during his next start and adjusts on the mound.

"In the middle of a game, there's only so much you can try to do," Castro said. "It's definitely something he can reflect on now and look back and see what went wrong and hopefully use that going forward.

"Everyone needs occasional stuff like this to show you where you really need to be."